I am a big believer in the power of great questions. They open your mind and allow for great conversations that can often lead to breakthrough thinking. In today’s lightning fast environment, businesses need to constantly be checking their business models and watching for what might be changing. That is why these three questions that … Continued

I am a big believer in the power of great questions. They open your mind and allow for great conversations that can often lead to breakthrough thinking.

In today’s lightning fast environment, businesses need to constantly be checking their business models and watching for what might be changing. That is why these three questions that Google’s CFO uses in their quarterly management review meetings caught my attention. They focus you on the past, present and future and force you to think about the future business – brilliant!

He calls this process, evaluating against the three beacons.

Here are the three powerful questions to ask in your next quarterly financial / strategic review from Google’s CFO, Patrick Pichette:

What did it do in the last 90 days and what will it do in the next 90 days?

What’s your trajectory? Do the financial models and operating metrics for a couple of years out suggest a trajectory that is gaining or losing momentum?

What’s your strategic positioning in the context of a fast-changing landscape?